Simba Chikore sidelines Air Zimbabwe CEO

Posted
17 Jul 2017
by Maveriq

President Robert Mugabe’s son-in-law and Air Zimbabwe Chief Operations Officer (COO) Simba Chikore is allegedly acting as the Chief Executive Officer at national airline and is reported to have displaced Air Zimbabwe boss Ripton Muzenda, Simba is reported to have travelled with Transport minister Joram Gumbo to seal the deal to lease 4 aircraft from Malaysia. Muzenda is reported to have been in the dark about the whole deal.

A source who spoke to the Independent said:

Chikore and Gumbo are already in Malaysia but, surprisingly, they did not go with the Air Zimbabwe chief executive officer Ripton Muzenda and not even the board chairperson Chipo Dyanda

Another source said:

Chikore has effectively displaced Muzenda because of his proximity to the first family. He takes instruction from the family and enjoys direct access to the minister,

The First Family should not be involved, but it seems they are giving him ideas and instructions because everything he does is said to be having the blessings of President Robert Mugabe’s family.

Air Zimbabwe is the national airline of Zimbabwe. The airline has faced financial difficulties over the last decades owing to alleged mismanagement. In June 2017, the airline was rebranded to Zimbabwe Airways in an attempt to boost the national carrier’s fleet and increase its routes. Zimbabwe Airways leased four Boeing 777-200 planes from Malaysia Airlines on a long term lease. Read More

Simba Chikore is a Zimbabwean who is married to President Robert Mugabe's daughter Bona. In September 2016, he was appointed the Chief Operations Officer of Air Zimbabwe, a move that was criticised by some Zimbabweans who claimed he had landed the post because of his relationship to the country president. Read More

Professor Chipo Dyanda is a Zimbabwean academic and the current chairperson of Zimbabwe Airways formerly Air Zimbabwe. Read More